Honor Your Child’s Energy

Sometimes a kid just doesn’t want to nature journal… right now. Maybe they just want to play tag, or lay down and stare up at the clouds, or smell the flowers. Maybe they want to climb a tree, or write a silly story in their journal about a cat and a spaceship. Letting them take some time to either rest or blow off some steam can help keep them from becoming resentful of nature journaling, or seeing it as a chore. I’m not advocating to let kids just do whatever they feel like doing all the time… but we can let them play, or take some quiet time, before settling in to the practice. I will even set a timer, so there’s a clear external notification that the time to play has ended.

When you do get started, it’s a good idea to set simple and clear expectations, especially with a classroom full of kids or with a child that’s just beginning to nature journal — for example, draw one flower, add at least 3 labels and 2 questions. It makes a blank page less intimidating if you know what’s expected of you. But if they get stuck, it can also help to give a few options to choose from (but not too many, that can be overwhelming!) Instead of drawing a flower, they could write a poem about it, or measure and count as many flowers as they can.

You also never know when a child will surprise you with a high level of focus and engagement. It’s good to be prepared for this possibility, so you can allow your child to enjoy the deep focus, attention, and sense of connection and wonder that comes from a really good nature journaling session. You never know when everything will finally “click.” This means planning a bit of wiggle room into your schedule whenever possible, to allow for the magic to happen. It also means bringing some sort of journal with you on every nature outing, with a pen, something small enough that it’s not a burden if you don’t use it.

Of course, all that I said about working with children also applies to us as adults. Most of us don’t have a compelling urge to play tag anymore, but our energy fluctuates too. Sometimes it’s good to get a long hike in or a brisk walk before settling in to journal. Or we might not have much energy, and it would be best for us to spend some time simply sitting at a picnic bench for awhile listening to the birds or taking in the view.

For me, I always remember that the goal is nature connection. Whether every experience is recorded in a certain way in a specific journal isn’t really the point, the point is to have the experience. To build a lifetime of relationship and awareness of the world around us.